Star India today completed its virtual monopoly of cricket broadcast by winning the coveted Indian Premier League (IPL) media rights for a whopping 16,347.50 crore (USD 2.55 billion) for the next five years.

The staggering deal, which will run from 2018 to 2022, has turned out to be a financial windfall for the BCCI despite the administrative crisis it is facing at the moment.

The testimony to IPL’s growth as the premier sporting property of the country is reflected by the fact that the previous 10-year bid for TV rights only was bought by Sony at Rs 8200 crore in 2008.

Now, the BCCI stands to earn nearly double that amount in half the duration (five years) with earnings of Rs 3270 crore from IPL media rights per year.

The BCCI will now earn Rs 55 crore approximately from an IPL match compared to Rs 43 crore, ironically, for each international match that India play.

“India, cricket and IPL have changed dramatically since its inception (in 2008) and this bid is a reflection of that,” Star CEO Uday Shankar told mediapersons.

The media rights include broadcast (TV) and digital (mobile and internet) for various segments namely India, Middle East, Africa, Europe and America.